Finance committee approves $1.24 million Mountain River contract to finish utility-billing transition

The Santa Fe Finance Committee on Sept. 8 approved a two-year professional services contract with Mountain River Consulting Inc. for $1,244,156.25, including New Mexico gross receipts tax, to provide application support, technical support for data conversion and CIS interfaces for the city’s utility-billing modernization. Councilors approved the contract after discussion and a roll-call vote in which one member abstained. The item matters because the city has been working to move from its legacy AS/400-based billing system to a modern Advanced billing platform, and committee members described the contract as a necessary but painful step to complete a long-running project. The committee pressed staff for dates and asked for a plan to limit ongoing consultant dependence. Nancy Jimenez, public administration administrator, told the committee Mountain River has supported the current utility-billing system for the city since about 2010 and would assist with the cloud migration, data conversion and an archive/exit strategy if needed. City IT involvement includes DeNovo (the original software firm) and Advanced, the incoming platform vendor; staff said DeNovo and Mountain River possess knowledge of legacy customizations that did not transfer cleanly to the cloud. Councilor Lindell, who pulled the item from consent, criticized the long relationship with the consultant and said, “it ethically bothers me” that the city has paid millions over many years and that the consultant employs a former city employee. Lindell asked why the work could not be done by current city staff. Nancy Jimenez and City IT staff said Mountain River retains institutional knowledge of legacy customizations and that DeNovo also participates to ensure billings reconcile correctly during the transition. Committee members asked about timeline and contingencies. Staff said parallel testing of the new Advanced system is planned for June 2026 with three months of parallel billing before final cutover, and the contract term is two years to allow for an archival/exit contingency; the contract contains a 30-day termination provision. Councilor Cassett said she expects the work to be done by October 2026 but accepted the contingency; IT director Jesse Roche said he will remain to oversee completion. Action and next steps: the committee approved the contract (motion passed; Councilor Windell abstained). Staff said monthly check-ins with the city manager and deputy city manager will continue and that the city will keep the council informed if the schedule shifts. Staff also said they will seek to limit ongoing payments by canceling the contract once the migration and any needed archiving are complete. The committee did not change the contract amount or the contingency language at the meeting; members asked staff to provide clear milestone updates and to bring material schedule slips back to the committee for review.